try booting up in safe mode with networking. you press f8 when you start the computer and the windows bootloader will give you the option to do so. You wont be able to play flash games or videos but firefox works in safe mode, i dont know about IE. Also, the resolution will be less so everyhting will look bigger. Or download the ubuntu live CD and Wubi.exe to install it inside windows. that way you can choose to boot into ubuntu linux or windows at startup. One more thing: I hate internet filtering and it should die. It basically says your parents don't trust you. I'd hate to be you with butthead parents. Mine trust me enough to give me unfiltered internet so I dont have that problem. Happy surfing - amddude

The reason parents put filtering in place is because there are things on the internet that they don't want their kids to view, things that are unsafe and that could lead to their developing antisocial attitudes about sex and people, or worse yet to get abducted by adults. Most kids haven't developed the maturity to recognize the social cues and adult has to recognize they're in danger so parents just try to shield them from this stuff. You appear to be a pretty smart dude, but I bet you're still not smart enough to have a job, pay for a house, have a relationship and still need your mom and dad to pay for your life, including your computer and internet connection, so you (and all other kids trying to get around these controls) should get used to living under their rules until you can be responsible for your own life....until then, they are responsible for whatever happens to you and they are trying to protect you from your inexperience.

Parents, if you like me were surprised to find out that there is this hole in your security strategy, then you'll want to put controls directly into your router, the device required for kids to access the internet with their computer. For more details, check out this website:http://techpaul.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/more-internet-safety-use-your-router-for-access-control/Bypassing the router is not an option if you want access to the internet on your computer.

I have since gained some knowledge and I agree with what you are saying, although I don't think the "fight" between a kid reacting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactance_(psychology) ) to limited access, and their parents trying to protect them from some of the rather nasty things on the internet will stop anytime soon.In high school (the 4 years after this post) I expanded my social interaction and I was exposed to a lot of people, and I now really see the need to protect people (especially teenagers and kids) from themselves. While I'm still one, I try to be as rational as possible now, and I recognize that I've got a lot to learn, not just in knowledge, but in experience, before I can make completely informed decisions on things like parenting (which I'm not sure I even want to do).

Ha Ha! I was inspired by Ender's game and I used this reverse psychology trick to drive my son to first learn how to edit the window's registry and then start using Linux. He is now studying computer science in a top college. Of course I had to have frank discussions about what to avoid on the internet and why :/

I also took away reading privileges / books as a punishment for bad behavior. All my children are now avid readers. :)

RIGHT ON amddude! I can't believe the things butthead parents try and pull liek trying to stop me from watching donkey porn and I'm like MOM!! SRSLY!! cheezum crow but its ok I hacked into my computer's mainframe and now i get to go to all the sites I want I mean Im 13 yrs old already its like JEESH!!!! So this guy's totally right in fact we should block the parents from checking up on us instead!!! YEAH!!!!!!! then the kids can run things the way it SHOULD be because WE KNOW THE BEST!!!! We should be in charge and everything will be superawesome and well kill the pig and cut its throat and spill its blood roast it up and live the rest of our lives with no grownups!